SCIENTIFIC NAME
Dalbergia stevensonii. Derivation: The genus name is in honor of Nicholas and C. G. Dalberg, Swedish botanists about 1730 to 1820. The specific epithet was assigned in 1927 by Paul C. Standley in honor of Neil S. Stevenson who collected the type herbarium specimen (in flower) in the Toledo District of former British Honduras (Belize) in the same year.

FAMILY
Fabaceae or Leguminosae, the legume family; (Papilionaceae) the pea or pulse group.

OTHER NAMES
palisandro de Honduras.

DISTRIBUTION
Restricted to the southern part of Belize between latitudes 16° and 17° north in the damp forests and along rivers.

THE TREE
Honduras rosewood grows to a height of 50 to 100 feet with diameters of about 3 feet. The trunk commonly forks at about 20 to 25 feet from the ground. The papery bark is about 0.25 inch thick.

THE TIMBER
Honduras rosewood timber is handsome in appearance, purplish-brown in color with irregular black markings. The grayish sapwood is sharply defined from the darker heartwood. It is mostly straight grained and of medium to rather fine texture. When freshly cut, the sapwood has a mild odor and is slightly bitter in taste. The odor and taste of seasoned heartwood are not distinct. Average reported specific gravity is 0.75 to 0.88 (ovendry weight/green volume), equivalent to an air-dried weight of 60 to 72 pcf. The strength properties of Honduras rosewood are not outstanding, and it is used in applications where other properties are of greater importance.

SEASONING
This species will air dry slowly but with a marked tendency to check. For certain uses a period of 2 to 7 years is employed during the seasoning process. Shrinkage values are reported to be similar to other American rosewoods which are unusually low.

DURABILITY
When used in contact with the ground, the sapwood decomposes rapidly but the heartwood is exceptionally stable. In one reported case, no changes occurred in the soundness of the wood after it had been in the ground for 37 years.

WORKABILITY
The timber is hard to work with hand tools, but is worked without difficulty with machine tools. Some dulling effect of the cutting edges does occur. It turns well and finishes smoothly with a good polish.

USES
The chief use is for the manufacture of bars for marimbas and xylophones in the United States. It is superior for this purpose over Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra WDS 097) due to its greater density, toughness and more highly resonant qualities. Only the finest straight grain logs are employed in making bars and waste may be as high as 70% to 80% after discarding all checked and inferior material. Honduras rosewood is also used to a limited extent for cabinetry and veneer.

SUPPLIES
Since the growth areas of Honduras rosewood are so small, the quantity available on the commercial market is very limited. The woodworker, however, can secure both veneer and lumber at high prices from importers.

Information from A Guide to Useful Woods of the World, Second Edition, James H. Flynn, Jr. and Charles D. Holder, Editors.
Forest Products Society, Madison, Wisconsin, 2001.

Photographs from MDArtworks